Car coupler



July 27, 1937. T. JOHNSON ET AL l 288135 CAR COUPLER Filed Oct. 26, 19542 Sheets-Sheet l Jul y 27,1937. GTJOHNSONETAL 2,088,135

QA RRRRRRR R Patented July 27, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFCE 2,088,135GAR coUPLER Application October 26, 1934, Serial No. 750,186

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in car couplers, and moreparticularly to a novel car coupler knuckle for the A. R. A. standard Ecoupler.

One of the objects of the invention is to so design a car couplerknuckle as to facilitate manufacturing practice and increase theeiciency of operation of the knuckle when it is assembled in the couplerhead.

Knuckles of the usual construction are for the most part what is termedchunky castings, or castings that are nearly a solid mass of metal. Dueto this prior construction, the finished castings often contained hiddendefects because of the heavy sections and mass of metal. These defectsare caused by internal shrinks or drawing of the metal and the pocketingof gas by the heavy mass of metal. Furthermore, as such knuckles arerelatively heavy, they are diiicult to operate, that is, open or close,when in service and assembled in a coupler.

Therefore, another object of the invention is to construct a knuckle ofsuperior design which will greatly improve the manufacturing process Land the serviceability of the knuckle.

A further object is to increase the efficiency of operation when theknuckle is in service and assembled in a coupler, and this isaccomplished by providing a light weight knuckle of improved designrequiring less effort to open and close.

A still further object is to minimize the cost of manufacture of a carcoupler knuckle by using considerably less metal than is ordinarily usedin making a conventional knuckle.

A further purpose is to make a knuckle of equal or greater strength, butof less weight than the conventional knuckle.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in View whichwill appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in thenovel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaim.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved knuckle viewed from thepulling horn side.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the improved knuckle.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of a portion of the knuckle.

Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are sections taken respectively on the lines 5 5,6 6, 1 1, 8-8 and 9-9 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the knuckle IE! comprises principally thepulling horn H, the hub l2 and the tail i3, the latter including top andbottom pulling lugs M and l5, a lock support l, and a locking face il.Buflng shoulders i8 and la are positioned on the tail between the huband the pulling lugs. .A pivot pin aperture I9 extends through the hub.

The usual practice has been to cast the above component parts of aknuckle as a solid casting, except for the pivot pin opening and a smalllightening opening within the horn Il. This practice often results inhidden defects in the casting, due to abrupt changes in the mass of themetal in various parts of the mold, which cause internal shrinks andpocketing of gases.

In accordance with our invention, the casting is skeletonized and theexterior is so designed that abrupt changes in metal sections and massare avoided, whereby the quality of the casting is improved. In keepingwith our invention, the knuckle, at the place where the tail merges intothe hub, is provided with upper and lower cavities 2u and 2l whichcommuni-cate with the pivot aperture I9 and extend rearwardly into thetail.

To support the pivot pin against bending, a shoulder or apertured web 22is positioned between said cavities, and obviously, this shoulder willsurround the pivot pin (not shown) when the knuckle is assembled in thecoupler housing.

A vertical aperture 23 is formed in the tail between the cavities andthe pulling lugs M and I5, and produces a more desirable uniform rate ofcooling for the various component parts of this portion of the knuckleduring the casting operation.

Ihe rear end of the tail has also been lightened by providing it withupper and lower recesses 24 and 25 positioned at the rear of the pullinglugs. This designv reduces the mass of metal at these locations, therebyspeeding the cooling ofthe metal in the mold, so that all parts of theknuckle will cool at substantially the same rate.

Likewise, the structure of the lightening hole 26 commonly found in thepulling horn of this type of knuckle has been modied so as to provideupper and lower cavities 2l and 28 which extend from the h'ole Z towardthe huo of the knuckle. These cavities, in addition to lighten--Y ingthe knuckle, have the function of making the metal mass in that portionof the knuckle substantially uniform, so that the cooling rate issimilar to other portions of the knuckle.

Insofar as the lightening cavities, recesses, and apertures areconcerned, it will be observed that they are rounded, or of such shapethat abrupt changes in the metal sections are avoided, thereby removingthe cause of internal shrinks, blows and draws, all of which causedefects in the finished casting.

We prefer to make the knuckle of a cast steel possessing certainphysical properties; i. e., ultimate strength, yield point, elongation,and reduction of area, which justify the use of a higher working berstress in carrying out the invention. High grades of steel are obtainedby using alloys such as manganese-vanadium, manganesemolybdenum, etc.,with certain heat treatments after the metal is cast. However, we do notwish to be limited t0 any particular alloy of steel or form of heattreatment.

While we have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention andstated desired metals to be employed, it will be understood that variouschanges may be made in such disclosures, without departing from thespirit of the invention, as expressed in the claim.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A substantially hollow car coupler knuckle comprising a hub, pullinghorn and tail integrally united to form a unitary structure, saidknuckle having upper and lower bufling shoulders and upper and lowerpulling lugs positioned rearwardly of the hub, the tail being providedwith a substantially vertically disposed aperture positioned between theshoulders and lugs and with top and bottom recesses positionedrearwardly of the lugs, said horn being provided with a verticallydisposed aperture and with horizontally disposed cavities which mergeinto the last mentioned aperture and extend from the latter t0- ward thehub, said hub having a vertical pivot pin aperture and rearwardlyprojecting cavities which are segregated from the horn cavities andmerge into the pivot pin aperture, said apertures and cavities beingarranged to provide a substantially uniform metal thickness throughoutthe knuckle and none of said cavities being visible from any side of theknuckle.

GEORGE T. JOHNSON. HARRY H. WOLFE.

